Palladium Books® Weekly Update – June 9, 2011

By Kevin Siembieda

Welcome to another week of Palladium excitement.

It has been pointed out to me that my Weekly Updates have been rather lengthy lately. I apologize if I have been too long-winded. It’s just that there has been a lot going on lately, and I know you like to be kept in the loop. I also like getting your input and suggestions. The feedback on the website and Facebook for Rifts® Vampire Kingdoms has been a tremendous help to us. I’ll keep this Update brief.

UPDATE: Website issues have been addressed. The major issues and bugs with the new Palladium website have been fixed. We continue to work on things such as reducing loading time, fixing little bugs, and making additions and improvements.

You can continue to help by spreading the word about the new website, upcoming releases and other exciting things going on at Palladium Books. Your posting links to the Palladium Books website, the online store, and even links to specific products and discussion threads on your own websites, Facebook pages, and other websites that allow such things, really does help. Also talk about your favorite games and new releases. Thanks again.

UPDATE: Online Sales. The Second Chance Sale was almost as popular as our Memorial Day weekend sale. Of course, orders softened after the sale, but are not too bad. That will only get better as new product is released. I’m also working on 2-3 additional June sales to celebrate Palladium’s 30 Years of Publishing Role-Playing Games. These sales will only be in the month of June. Read more about them later in this Update and thank you for your continuing support.

UPDATE: Rifts® Free Quebec™ – Available now. Free Quebec arrived at the Palladium Warehouse on Wednesday, June 8, right on time, and is available to ship right now. It offers different types of Glitter Boys, Quebec weapons and gear, adventure ideas, maps, world information about Free Quebec, O.C.C.s and more.

The following titles are also recently back in print and ready to ship:

UPDATE: Rifts® Vampire Kingdoms™. Writing has been going great. I’m in what I call my “dynamo mode” in which I find myself writing at a furious pace. I gave Alex 40 pages to edit on Tuesday, 25 more on Wednesday and 25 today. Yep, I’m on a roll.

I’m also happy and excited about all the new material in this book. Even the descriptions for El Paso and Ciudad Juarez have been rewritten, updated and expanded. There is more and new material throughout. In the case of Juarez, the entire city-state is designed to be a springboard for adventure, not just a place to hangout or buy and sell stuff. I’m also developing the evil god Camazotz, Lord of Bats and Darkness, who leads a rival Vampire Kingdom in the Yucatan. Plus the other Vampire Kingdoms, Archie Three, and all kinds of goodness! The new artwork by Bradshaw, Burles, Mumah and Wilson also rocks. Yes, I’ll be keeping much of the popular Kevin Long and Timothy Truman artwork, but there are a number of new illustrations. Heck, I probably should have named the book “New and improved!” See the expanded bullet points in the description for more details.

UPDATE: The Rifter® #55. Wayne’s pulling this issue together even as you read this. The final version of the cover is done and it is sweet. We are still looking for new contributors to The Rifter®. That could be you. The Rifter® is designed to publish “fan” created source material, so what are you waiting for, send us your 8-25 page articles. The October Horror issue is next.

UPDATE: Rifts® World Book 32: Lemuria™. The author is finishing the last section reworked by him, I have Matthew Clements working on some edits, and I’ll be assigning the rest of the artwork in the next few days.

UPDATE: Rifts® World Book 33: Megaverse® in Flames™. The final version of the cover by RC Aradio is in and is fabulous. It is very powerful and dramatic.

Palladium Presence at A-Kon – June 10-12, Dallas, Texas. Reminder to fans in the Dallas-Houston area that Megaversal Ambassador Kenneth Haun is running something like 9-12 Palladium gaming events at A-Kon. Join the fun. Sorry, none of us can make the event.

Palladium to attend Gen Con Indy – August 4-7. I mention this every week because we want to make sure everyone knows and swings by our booth. Spread the word. Even though there are no “official” Palladium gaming events there are always a bunch of “unofficial” games. Please stop by the Palladium booth to chat and get autographs, pick up new books and back stock titles, and have some fun. Palladium people you’ll get to meet include:

Kevin Siembieda

Wayne Smith

Nick Bradshaw (artist, tentative)

Michael Mumah (artist, tentative)

Brandon Aten (writer)

Matthew Clements (writer; tentative)

And others to be announced.

UPDATE: Palladium’s Facebook numbers grow. We are only around 90 people away from hitting 3,000 people who like the Palladium Facebook page. I responded to a few postings and continue to make an appearance every couple of days. Alex continues to leak information about the Vampire Kingdoms™ as he edits more material, and other Palladium creators pop in on a regular basis.

QueenofGhouls.com – Kathy Simmons continues to whip up new ghoulish creations. There’s a Zombie Doctor that’s almost finished and I think a new witch is coming soon, along with more zombies, wizards, werewolves and creatures of the night. Halloween is only four months away!

UPDATE: Alex and his house. The delays, stress and cost have taken their toll on Alex these past couple of weeks, making him look worn out. We’ve finally had a number of dry days (too bad they’ve been in the 90s!), and work is progressing quickly now. The electrical work is finished, the outdoor work should be finished by the weekend, and the furnace work should be done by the beginning of next week. After that, it’s interior painting, carpeting, and inspection by the city! Looking good. Hang in there, Alex! Almost done.

Behind the Scenes Report:

Rex Barkdoll, the chief architect behind Palladium’s new website, visited the Palladium offices for the entire week. He came in Tuesday and left Sunday morning. He got to meet the Palladium staff plus Mark Dudley, Thom Bartold and Matthew Clements. Rex, Wayne and Thom worked on ironing out website bugs (most of them resolved by the time you read this), plus Rex and I plotted out future plans for Palladium Books, the website, Twitter, videos on YouTube and many other things. We also talked about game design, Palladium history, movies and other ideas and fun stuff. As I wrote in my Murmur, everyone took an instant liking to Rex. He is one of those people who reaffirm your faith in humanity. He’s young and vibrant, filled with ideas and dreams, and has the talent to make them a reality. Best of all, he’s a good person and a great guy.

I had a lot of meetings last week with Rex, as well as Mark Dudley and Matthew Clements, and communicated with a number of Palladium freelancers (Nick, Kent, RC, Greg, Mark, Irvin, Mike, Mike and others). Man oh man, the excitement is electric and I’m constantly impressed with the caliber of talent at Palladium Books. I guess the Creators Conference really did the trick, because many of these folks are kicking it up several notches. There are a number of new role-playing projects growing behind the scenes and a few ideas have even knocked my socks off. Nice. I’ll talk about them in detail after we get some of the current books out.

The product log-jam is about to burst. I’m still shooting to get Rifts® Vampire Kingdoms™ in your hands by the end of June. It will be followed by The Rifter® #55 and Rifts® Lemuria. They should be followed by Robotech® New Generation™, Rifts® Megaverse® in Flames™ and Rifts® Vampires Sourcebook.

Meanwhile, several new sourcebooks are in development for the Palladium Fantasy RPG®, Robotech®, Heroes Unlimited™, Nightbane®, Chaos Earth™, and Rifts®, we continue to develop ideas for comic books based on Palladium IPs, and more out of print titles are coming back in print.

30th Anniversary Celebration– means special offers for you

Palladium Books® has been publishing for thirty years. I’ve been looking for ways to celebrate, and since people have enjoyed the last two weekend sales, I thought it would be fun to have 2-3 more, making June the Month of Palladium Sales. I have a few ideas floating around already and I may even dust off a few out of print or limited edition items that I have tucked away, like some signed and numbered Rifts® Ultimate Gold Editions or out of print early issues of The Rifter®, and a few other things. Some may be limited by quantity, and available only on a first come, first served basis, while others won’t have any limit, just priced to make you smile. You know, items and prices that are fun and exciting.

I’ll figure the first Palladium 30th Anniversary Sale out in time for the next Weekly Update. Each will only last 4-5 day, and will only be offered in the month of June, so keep your eyes peeled and spread the word.

Keep those wonderful imaginations of yours burning bright.

– Kevin Siembieda, Publisher

Rifts® World Book 22: Free Quebec

– Back in Print – Available Now

If you like Glitter Boys, high technology and/or Canada, you want this book. It is another World Book jammed full of valuable characters, information and adventure ideas.

Six new O.C.C.s.

Six different Glitter Boys, plus other power armor including the Pale Death SAMAS, Violator SAMAS and others.

Rifts® Book of Magic

– Back in Print – Available Now

This is the ultimate guide to magic on Rifts Earth. All the magic spells, magic tattoos, Techno-Wizard items, magic weapons, equipment, body armor, restraints, parasites, symbiotes, magic items, Automatons, Iron Juggernauts, and more from Rifts® World Books 1-23,Sourcebooks 1-4, and Siege on Tolkeen 1-6, collected into one big reference. This is a great reference book. Kevin and all of us at Palladium use it and the Rifts® Game Master Guide constantly.

NEW! Rifts® World Book One:

Vampire Kingdoms™, Expanded & Updated – ships June

Kevin Siembieda is completely rewriting, reorganizing, and expanding one of the most popular Rifts® World Books ever published: Vampire Kingdoms™. Updated to 109 P.A., there is so much new material that it is practically a new book, yet it also preserves most of the original characters, concepts and information. The new material is built upon the original text, only rewritten, clarified and expanded. Vampire Kingdoms™ will be updated and expanded in a more dramatic fashion than Kevin’s work in Rifts® Sourcebook One a few years ago. Best of all, it will be quickly followed by the Rifts® Vampires Sourcebook™.

The Vampire Hunter O.C.C.

Techno-Wizard vampire slaying weapons and devices, new and old.

Vampires: Their strengths, weaknesses and powers.

The Vampire Kingdoms expanded.

Travel through the Vampire Kingdoms and surrounding areas.

Desert survival rules and guidelines.

Vampire strategies and plans for conquest.

The observations of Doc Reid.

Camazotz, Lord of Bats and Darkness – his plans for conquest of the Vampire Kingdoms and humanity.

Ciudad Juarez mapped and described. A typical village and other places also described.

The Yucatan Peninsula, and adventure ideas galore.

Were-Jaguars and other Were-Beasts of the Yucatan.

Updated and revised to 110 P.A., plus Archie Three and more.

Cover by E.M. Gist.

New artwork by Mike Wilson, Kent Burles, Mike Mumah and Nick Bradshaw, plus the best of Kevin Long and Tim Truman from the original book.

NEW! Rifts® Vampires Sourcebook™

All new source material

Trouble is stirring in the Vampire Kingdoms as ambitious vampire lords, ladies and misanthropes seek to expand their power to dominate more mortal life forms.

Written by Kevin Siembieda and a handpicked selection of other writers, this sourcebook explores the vampires of Mexico and their kingdoms in ways you never imagined. Tons of new data, adventure ideas and revelations.

NEW! The Rifter® #55

– Ships July 8

The Rifter® is your doorway to unlimited imagination and numerous Palladium role-playing worlds. It offers new heroes, powers, weapons, magic and adventure for your games. It presents new villains, monsters and dangers to battle, and new ideas to consider.

The Rifter® #55: Is under construction. Wayne Smith is busy selecting material for this issue even as you read this.

NEW! Rifts® World Book: Lemuria™

– Ships July 26

The power, secrets and magic of the underwater realm of Lemuria revealed. Player characters can use symbiotes, magic and technology to breathe underwater and spend time below the waves.

Lemuria is more than an underwater civilization of aquatic beings. They can trace their lineage as far back as the Atlanteans and can survive on dry land as well as underwater. In fact, their greatest secret is that there is no one resting place for the Lemurians, their great cities are always moving. Learn about the people of Lemuria, new Biomancy magic and weapons, Biomancy engineered riding animals, sea herbs, new powers of healing, sea monsters, and more. Epic adventure awaits.

The Lemurians, their race, history and society.

New O.C.C.s including the Serpent Hunter, Shriekers, Oceanic Guardsman, Aquatic Biomancer and others.

The Stone Guardians of Easter Island and other mysteries.

Biomancer Gardens and Aquatic Biomancy.

Biomancy armor, weapons and equipment.

Symbiotic creatures and constructs; some that enable air-breathers to survive underwater, indefinitely.

New psionic abilities.

Sea Serpents, Sea Dragons, monsters, and riding animals.

New dangers, new challenges, adventure ideas and more.

Written by Greg Diaczyk.

Cover by John Zeleznik.

160 pages – $20.95 retail – Cat. No. 885. Final page count and price may be subject to expansion and increase. July 2011.

NEW! Robotech® New Generation™ Sourcebook

This Robotech® sourcebook will be a Summer 2011 release.

Rules for using mecha, power armor and technology from all four eras of Robotech.

Kit-bashed mecha and rules for jury-rigging and combining parts from different generations of mecha.

NEW! Rifts® Megaverse® in Flames™

The Minion War spills across Rifts Earth, where demons and infernals hope to recruit allies and use the Rifts as gateways of destruction. Their influence shakes things up across the planet, especially at locations where demons and Deevils already have a strong presence. More details to follow, but for now, 'nuff said.

Soulmancer and Blood Magic.

The Seven Deadly Plagues.

The Demon Plagues across the globe.

Battleground: Earth – as demons and infernals amass their legions.

Rifts Calgary – also known as Hell's Pit; the kingdom described.

Ciudad de Diablo, Harpies' Island and other notable Hell holes on Earth.

Lord Doom, Pain and other demonic leaders.

Horune treachery, Dimension Stormers and other villains.

Global chaos and the places most dramatically affected by the Demon Plagues.

Rifts® Dimension Book™ 14: Thundercloud Galaxy™

– Available Now

The book is sitting in our warehouse waiting for your orders. It is packed with great ideas, great art, unique, new alien races available as player characters, weird creatures and monsters, secrets of the Gene-Tech, weapons of the Dominators, ancient ruins, colony creation rules, adventure galore and much, much more.

The Scramble is the mad dash to claim and colonize the thousands of worlds of the Thundercloud Galaxy. Colonists flock to the Thundercloud filled with dreams. Space Pirates and an array of cutthroats also flock to the galaxy, guns in hand, ready to rob and fleece the colonists. Lawmen and heroes are in great demand, and the opportunities for clever adventurers are said to be without limit. As the civilizations of the Anvil and Corkscrew Galaxies scramble to colonize the Thundercloud, they are beginning to realize the galaxy holds more riches, beauty, horrors and secrets than anyone has ever imagined, making it a place of discovery, adventure and treachery like no other.

Thundercloud Galaxy™ is a perfect companion to the rest of the Phase World®/Three Galaxies™ based Dimension Books as well as the Minion War™ series. Players can be pirates, raiders, brigands or hired guns, or they may be explorers, adventurers, Spacers, or any number of heroes trying to protect the colonists or the indigenous peoples of countless worlds and colonies. The possibilities are truly limited only by your imagination.

17 new alien R.C.C.s plus the Elder Races, Dominators and more.

9 notable monsters and strange creatures, plus minions.

Learn about the mysterious Elder Races, complete with stats.

Dominator weapons, gear and salvage available to players.

Gene-Tech and their chemical enhancements, gear and salvage available to players.

Rifts® World Book 8: Rifts® Japan™

– Back in Print – Available now

This fan-favorite sourcebook is filled with high-tech wonders, magic and monsters. There are 20 O.C.C.s (Occupational Character Classes) that range from the traditional ninja and samurai to power armor, giant robots and cyborgs.

Rifts® World Book 13: Lone Star™

– Back in Print – Available now

The Coalition State of Lone Star is a wild and woolly place of contrast and conflict. The Coalition States claims the entire State of Texas as their own, but they only control a small corner of it. It is here, at the Lone Star Complex, that the CS engages in genetic engineering and creates the famous Dog Boys and a host of other mutants. The rest of the state is held by the Pecos Empire – an empire of bandits, outlaws and rebels. The perfect companion to Rifts® New West™, Rifts® Spirit West™ and Rifts® Machinations of Doom™.

19 R.C.C.s, many of which are mutants.

A few new O.C.C.s.

Dog Boys – an in-depth look at how they are designed, bred and trained.

Armageddon Unlimited™

for Heroes Unlimited™ and the Minion War™ – Available now

Armageddon Unlimited™ is the ultimate good vs evil setting and adventure. The fate of the world hangs in the balance and only you can stop its destruction as demons and Deevils fight for control of the Earth and bringing about the end of life as we know it.

Armageddon Unlimited™ is more than an epic world-saving adventure, it is also a sourcebook jam-packed with new powers, magic, weapons and Power Categories that can be incorporated into any Heroes Unlimited™ campaign. This book can be used as a standalone adventure sourcebook for Heroes Unlimited™ or as a pivotal plot in an expansive Minion War™ campaign. Get a free sneak preview of the book from DriveThruRPG.com.

7 new Minor and 14 Major Super Abilities.

Deevil and Demon magical Chaos Weapons.

Enchanted Weapons of Order and a few Enchanted Objects.

Demon Hunter Power Category and abilities.

Crusader of Light Power Category and abilities.

Heroic Hellion Power Category – play a “reformed demon.”

Hellion monster creation table.

Magically Bestowed Variant Power Categories and abilities let you wield weapons that empower good and destroy evil.

Rifts® Mercenaries™

Rifts® Book of Magic™

Rifts® World Book 23: Rifts® Free Quebec™

The Queen of Ghouls: Life-Sized Halloween Props

Check out the new creations by Palladium’s very own Kathy Simmons. See her zombie doctor and other new zombies, Jack Skellington and Sally, and more. New creations are on the drawing board, and so is a new website. Each Halloween prop is truly life-sized (most are 6 feet or taller – Jack is almost 8 feet) and seems almost alive.

Each is an all-weather, life-sized Halloween prop that can handle rain and snow, and is a one-of-a-kind work of art (no two are exactly the same). Each looks frighteningly “real.” All come apart and fold down to slightly larger than a king-size pillow for easy storage. Comes with easy instructions, a plastic storage bag, and the lawn stake to stand it up in your front yard. Indoor stand sold separately.

Types of “Ghouls” include: Zombies (all kinds!), killer clowns, wizards, witches, devils, grave ghouls, scarecrows, executioners, mad doctors, deadly nurses, vampires, werewolves, and more. Kathy's also now offering an array of hand-painted Halloween signs, signs with heads and bodies hanging from them, witch's brewing pots, Halloween centerpieces and more. Best of all, her high quality creations are much more affordable and imaginative than most competitors or mass produced items in a store, making them affordable Halloween fun.

If you think the photos online look good, you should see them in person. A typical “ghoul,” as she calls her creations, costs $129-$259. You can see some of her work at her Queen of Ghouls™ Ebay store – queenofghouls.com.